Jesus told a story to teach other people. These people thought that they were very good in front of God. They thought that they were much better than other people.
10 Jesus said, ‘One day, two men went into God's Great House to pray. One man was a Pharisee. The other man took taxes on behalf of the government. 11 The Pharisee stood there by himself. He prayed like this: “Thank you, God, that I am different from all these other people. They are bad people. They rob other people. They have sex with women that are not their wife. Thank you, God, that I am not like this man who takes taxes on behalf of the government. 12 I stop eating on two days of each week. I give to you one tenth of all the things and money that I receive.”
13 But the other man stood far away. He would not even look up towards heaven. He was hitting his body with his hands to show how sorry he was. He prayed like this: “Please, God, be kind to me. I have done many bad things.” ’
14 Jesus then said, ‘Let me tell you about these men when they left there. The man that took taxes on behalf of the government was now right with God. But the Pharisee had not made anything right with God. Some people lift themselves up to be important. But God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’
10 Jesus said, ‘One day, two men went into God's Great House to pray. One man was a Pharisee. The other man took taxes on behalf of the government. 11 The Pharisee stood there by himself. He prayed like this: “Thank you, God, that I am different from all these other people. They are bad people. They rob other people. They have sex with women that are not their wife. Thank you, God, that I am not like this man who takes taxes on behalf of the government. 12 I stop eating on two days of each week. I give to you one tenth of all the things and money that I receive.”
13 But the other man stood far away. He would not even look up towards heaven. He was hitting his body with his hands to show how sorry he was. He prayed like this: “Please, God, be kind to me. I have done many bad things.” ’
14 Jesus then said, ‘Let me tell you about these men when they left there. The man that took taxes on behalf of the government was now right with God. But the Pharisee had not made anything right with God. Some people lift themselves up to be important. But God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’
